AN: This is the sequel to my Friends, Family, and Frights story.

Mike was chewing on a pen (a habit he had picked up from Dipper) as he scanned the code flowing past the screen in concentration. There had been strange errors occurring within the Pizzaplex's mainframe for months now and the IT department still hadn't been able to figure out the problem. It had been a few minor things at first, but the issues were increasing, even starting to affect the main animatronics. The current theory was that a competitor had managed to upload some sort of virus into their system or it was a hacker testing their firewalls for something bigger later on.

Mike had a feeling something more sinister was going on (as was usually the case when it came to Fazbear locations) and had been investigating during his spare time. He hadn't had any luck yet as whoever (and Mike had a very specific suspicion about who it might be) it was was good at erasing any traces, even when Mike knew he had been close to isolating the malware it would somehow jump to a separate system. A normal technician would never be able to understand what was going on, but Mike had decades of experience that let him easily recognize the ghostly influence. (Mike knew he should call in the rest of his family to come to help him investigate, but even after all these years he was still reluctant to drag them into this particular brand of adventure.) The bottom line was that things were getting dire and Mike was going to have to make his move sooner rather than later.

A knock on his office door broke Mike out of his thoughts. Mike took the opportunity to stretch as he called out, "Come in!"

"Hey Mike!" one of his coworkers, Dave greeted, waving a folder in his hand. "I've got the latest reports for you to look over and sign."

"Just give them to Helpy to take care of," Mike said, gesturing to the little bear animatronic on his desk with his robotic arm as he turned back to the computer. "I've got other priorities right now."

"Still trying to do the IT department's job for them huh," Dave commented as he easily handed over the file to the waiting animatronic who immediately opened it up and began checking over the reports. "If I hadn't been working with you for so long, I would think you were a control freak or a perfectionist."

More like having a healthy dose of paranoia, though is it really paranoia when there really are monsters out to get you? Mike thought to himself before saying, "Hey when the issue is affecting the Glamrocks, it becomes my job to look into it."

"Yes, because heaven forbids something happens to your precious Glamrocks," Dave teased with a big grin. "You are such a mother hen with them."

"I could get you fired easily you know," Mike deadpanned, eyes never leaving the computer screen.

"But then you would have to train some newbie and we both know how frustrating that can be," Dave replied, grin getting wider. "Besides, I think you'd miss having someone on the team that isn't sucking up to you or terrified that you'll fire them over any mistake."

"I only fired those idiots because they weren't taking the job nearly seriously enough," Mike scoffed. "Animatronics can be dangerous if they're not properly maintained and I will not tolerate lackluster repairs just because someone was feeling lazy. A line you're getting dangerously close to crossing if you don't get back to work."

"Fine, fine," Dave sighed dramatically as he turned back towards the door. "I'm back on the task of reprograming the map bots once again in a vain attempt to get them to stop scaring people. Oh! And you should probably expect a customer complaint about me! I never got a chance to explain that I couldn't ring up their purchase because I was repairing that register not manning it!"

With that final declaration, Dave shut the door behind him, making Mike roll his eyes. After a few minutes, Mike eventually shut down the code window. There was no sign of the virus or ghost or whatever it was, but hopefully, the extra detection programs he had secretly installed would let him know whenever it activated again.

"Anything to worry about Helpy?" Mike asked the little bear that was currently forging Mike's signatures on the reports. The animatronic shook its head no and filed them neatly in the outbox.

"Disco Girl! Coming through! That girl is you!"

"Hello! Hello!" Mike said as he answered his phone with a grin. "You have reached the personal phone of the Mighty Mike! The animatronic cyborg superhero that has helped take down supernatural monsters of all sorts and is currently the Chief Engineer at one of the most popular locations in the state that has a very dark past. What words of wisdom have you come seeking oh little brother of mine?"

"I swear you're introductions get longer each time," Dipper grumbled good-naturedly on the other end of the phone. "At this rate, there will come a day where we'll be an hour into the phone call before we actually start talking to each other."

"Nah, it won't get that bad because you never really respond in kind," Mike laughed. "You should hear me and Mabes going back and forth. We can really get carried away with it sometimes"

"I did once and never again," Dipper replied with an over-dramatic shudder. "I swear if you guys didn't have other pressing tasks, you could have gone on all day."

"We may never know," Mike replied, letting the jokes subside. "So how you've been Dipstick? You and Pacifica still hashing out wedding details?"

"She had me help her pick out the colors not just for the wedding, but the reception, the luncheon, and pretty much every event you could think of," Dipper replied, sounding horrified at just thinking about it. "I've never seen so many color samples in my life and I swear over half of them were the same shade even if the card said it was something different!"

"I think it's one of those mysteries that only women and artists can understand," Mike consoled. "Don't worry, in a few months you two will be married and this will all be over. Until it's time for the annual Northwest party that is…"

"Don't remind me," Dipper groaned. "At least it's no longer just rich snobs, so they're actually kind of fun. What about you Mike? How are things going there? I know the last time we talked you said that the virus was starting to affect the Glamrocks?"

"Yeah…" Mike sighed, his tone turning serious. "The malfunctions haven't been anything major yet and I've been able to get them fixed before the public can even notice, but it's been getting worse each time. I'm not sure how it's happening as I make sure to cut off their connection to the mainframe when I'm not here to keep a close eye on them. But if this keeps up… it'll only be a matter of time before they accidentally hurt someone…"

"Do you think someone could be tampering with them directly?" Dipper asked, just as seriously.

"That thought has crossed my mind," Mike agreed quietly. "But it would mean they have to be working with our "ghost in the machine" to bypass security time and again, or they're someone with high clearance. Both possibilities have terrifying implications… I don't even want to think about the possibility that both might be true…"

"Sounds like you could use some backup," Dipper commented. "How soon do you want me to fly there?"

"What?! Dipper, I can't ask you to do that!" Mike immediately protested. "You have your wedding to worry about. I can handle this on my own."

"And I'll repeat we always say until you finally get it through you're thick skull: You're a Pines now and that means we'll have your back," Dipper replied with firm exasperation. "Pacifica would understand if you needed help and she would not be afraid to lecture you if she knew you were trying to use her as an excuse to not get help. Besides, Mabel and Stan told me they were really worried about you after you last talked with them. The only reason they aren't flying out already is that Stan and Ford are still a week away from the nearest airport, Wendy's still on her backpacking trip with her brothers, and Mabel is six months pregnant. But Mabel told me to make you spill what you're holding back and to accept help or she'll and I quote 'come down there herself and personally make you deal with all her nausea and cravings on top of whatever is going on. You know she'll do it too so you might as well just tell me what's really going on."

Mike was silent for a while, both extremely grateful and frustrated that he had such a caring family.

"Children have started to go missing," Mike finally confessed, getting a sharp inhale from Dipper. "You know I've been keeping an eye out for that specifically and there have only been two, so far, but that's still two too many. I don't know if the company itself has just gotten better at burying those reports or if it's the virus actively hiding them from anyone that might be looking, but I only found them a few days ago by complete accident. It just points to all my worst fears being confirmed."

"I'll be on the next flight out," Dipper stated, already moving to gather the things he needed. "Do you want me to bring anything special or just the usual supplies?"

"Probably bring extra backups just to be safe," Mike sighed, resigned to the fact his brother was coming to help. "I have the feeling this is going to get really bad…"

"Will do," Dipper confirmed. "And before you start worrying too much about my safety like you always do, let me remind you that I survived the literal apocalypse when I was just 12 and we have all been on many more adventures since then. We can handle a few killer animatronics and haunted computers, especially with an expert like you leading the charge."

"You're right, you're right," Mike agreed with a chuckle, letting Dipper's words comfort him. "Text me your flight details when you have them so I know when to pick you up. Try and get a nap on the plane too if you can, because I want us to take care of this tonight."

"Understood," Dipper said, zipping up his bag. "I'll see you soon Mike."

"See you soon," Mike replied before they both hung up. Mike sighed and leaned forward, letting his head rest in his hands. Helpy walked over to give Mike a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Looks like we're about to go through it all over again," Mike said, letting his hands drop as he looked at the little bear animatronic. "You up for that?"

Helpy gave Mike a firm nod and a thumbs up, making Mike pat the little bear in appreciation. A beep from his staff issued Fazwatch, reminded him that he was currently at work and had a job to do.

"Mike Pines here," Mike said as he answered the call. "What can I help you with?"

"I need you to report to Parts and Services immediately!" Amanda, the main manager currently on shift, commanded. "Freddy glitched out and shut down just as the big show had been about to start. Try and get him fixed as soon as possible, the rest of my staff and I have to deal with a bunch of angry parents."

"On my way," Mike said, turning off his watch and getting to his feet. Scooping up Helpy and placing the bear on his shoulder, Mike left his office, hoping that this wasn't some sort of bad omen…

Mike tapped furiously at his tablet as he worked on clearing the virus from Freddy's system. It had apparently tried to activate during the show, but Mike's prototype protection programs that he had only just installed in the animatronic the other day had kicked in and shut Freddy down instead. There were obviously a few bugs still in Mike's program as it was just supposed to clear out any unrecognized programs, but if it kept Freddy from killing anyone Mike would consider it a success.

"Don't worry big guy," Mike muttered glancing over the bear animatronic. "I'll get your systems clear."

Mike hadn't wanted to get attached to the Glamrock animatronics when he first started working with them (he had too much bad history with their predecessors), but their AI was truly a marvel. They weren't "alive" in the same way that the other animatronics had been (thank every greater being that does or might exist for that miracle), but they were more than just basic movements and prerecorded lines. They were so innocent in many ways, that Mike just couldn't help but want to protect them from the bloody legacy that came with the Fazbear name.

Once the virus was cleared out, Mike initiated a full system reboot just to be sure and decided to switch the bear into Safe Mode as an extra precaution. As the process began, Mike drummed his fingers on the back of his tablet as he considered manually switching all the animatronics to Safe Mode. Sure, it wasn't a long-term solution as they couldn't fulfill most of their roles properly that way, but if it kept them from becoming killers, Mike would consider it worth it. Mike glanced at his watch and realized with a grimace that he wouldn't have time to do that if he wanted to pick up Dipper on time. (Mike knew Dipper wouldn't care if it meant the animatronics had a better chance at remaining secure, but Mike had already mentioned he'd need to leave early for a family emergency. The last thing he wanted right now was to draw any sort of attention or suspicion by staying longer.)

"Helpy, I'm going to need you to stay and keep an eye on things tonight until I get back," Mike said, getting a salute from the little bear. "Make sure you message me if anything suspicious happens."

Thankfully it wasn't uncommon for Mike to have Helpy watch over unfinished projects after Mike's shift ended so no one would think anything of it. Having done all he could for Freddy, Mike disconnected his tablet and left the protective cylinder.

"It should be safe to move Freddy back to his room in a few minutes," Mike instructed one of the nearby technicians. "Keep him at half power though until I've had a chance to make sure his systems are still clear in the morning."

"Yes sir!" the technician said, a slight fearful waver in his voice before he left to fetch what he needed to move the heavy animatronic. Mike didn't pay him any mind and quickly got his stuff and clocked out, completely unaware of the small figure hiding in the shadows as he left the Pizzaplex.